Sydney's story
Donation protected
My name is Sydney Schmidt I am 21 years old and I have multiple autoimmune diseases that cause me to need to use a wheelchair and other mobility aids. I was completely “normal” or able-bodied my entire life up until my freshman year of high school. I was a competitive athlete who played basketball, soccer, volleyball, and other sports. During the middle of my freshman year, I started to experience some symptoms involving my legs. The first signs appeared when I was in sports when I wasn’t able to run as fast and keep up and my stamina began to decline. I went from being one of the strongest and most effective players on the team to not being able to keep up with the girls I’ve played with all my life. From 2015-2020 I spent most of the time being home/bed bound and sleeping 20 hours a day. I found Damian and the ability center at an open gym and once I hopped in a basketball chair I never wanted to get out. Getting a custom-fit chair would help so much because in wheelchair basketball you want the chair to basically become an extension of your body. Within the next year or two the hope is that I will be trying out for the national U25 women’s team for team USA and this chair would definitely be a game-changer in helping me get there!
Co-organizers (3)
Brady Schauer
Organizer
Sun Prairie, WI
Logan Gross
Co-organizer
Brian Kaminski
Co-organizer